4.1 – Dalek Empire: The Fearless – Part 1

Set during the events of Dalek Empire I, Commander Agnes Landen creates a special Dalek killing force.

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Styre
on May 9, 2016 at 4:01 AM

DALEK EMPIRE: THE FEARLESS

PART ONE

As spinoffs go, Dalek Empire certainly wasn’t bad — Nicholas Briggs created a consistent, interesting universe, and at least one of his scripts ascended to masterpiece level. However, by the end of Dalek Empire III, I felt the well of ideas was running dry — perhaps fourteen stories was a good place to draw the line. 2007 proved me wrong, however, as Briggs returned to his future war scenario one more time in the four-part Dalek Empire: The Fearless. The first chapter focuses primarily on Salus Kade (Noel Clarke), a colonial leader on a backwater planet worried only about the survival of his fellow settlers, who have barely scraped by for generations. Paralleling the first Dalek Empire series, things change when the Daleks arrive, and Kade and his fellow able-bodied colonists are drafted into the military. Meanwhile, Commander Agnes Landen (Maureen O’Brien) spearheads the development of a last-ditch attempt to stop the invading Daleks: augmented suits designed to mimic Dalek casings and to level the playing field in a human-Dalek fight. As with many first parts, here we set up the upcoming conflicts: we see Kade’s story in flashback, and we see the massive Dalek fleets he’s sure to fight in the later installments. The trappings of the story are better than the story itself: while the events are cliched and predictable, elements like the sound design and Clarke’s performance are beyond criticism. This feels like a Dalek Empire story, and though I’m wary about what is to come, I recognize that this is a decent enough opening episode.